News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why hasn't Middle Earth had an Industrial Revolution?. Parent comment

Re:Why hasn't Middle Earth had an Industrial Revolution? by KineticLensman on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @09:08AM (#31907192)
> The mission for the rangers isn't to militarily defend the region as a garrisoning force, it's to suppress any news or investigation of the Shire to keep it secret.

Reference please.

The Rangers do protect the Shire but there are no references to a 'secrecy' mission in the book IIRC.

There are main roads that pass nearby that are travelled at least by Dwarves and Elves. Frodo and the other hobbits themselves see Dwarves drinking at the Prancing Pony in Bree, where discussion of the Shire would undoubtedly have happened.

Saruman is also aware of the Shire, if only because Gandalf kept on about it.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why hasn't Middle Earth had an Industrial Revolution? by simonh on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @11:02AM (#31908623)
The rangers are highly secretive, so much so that the people of Bree and the Shire don't even know they defend them. Of course they let Elves and Dwarves travel the road, why would they want to stop them?

Saruman's enthral to Sauron is relatively recent, and he never took Hobbits in any way seriously, he has no direct control of Mordor's forces anyway. Frankly they dodged a bullet a bit on that one, Saruman's betrayal could have been far more damaging if he'd been even slightly less arrogant and dismissive of others.

[ Parent | on HN ]